A laser temperature jump, capacitive discharge temperature jump, and a stopped flow apparatus have been designed for the fluoroscopic and spectroscopic detection of biochemical kinetic reaction rates. Improved system sensitivity and frequency response enable new exploratory investigations into the complex mechanisms of various enzyme functions. Kinetic reaction rate instrumentation can provide information of the incremental, fast interactions of antibiotics with enzymes or other proteins. Development of a new stopped flow cell reduced dead time from milliseconds to micro-seconds. Reaction rates previously masked by mixing can now be recorded. Pulsed bilateral energy from a Raman shifted Q switched Nd: Glass laser acts as a heat source to increase biochemical temperatures in nanoseconds. A pulsed high intensity xenon lamp used as an analyzing power source improves the signal-to-noise ratio of nanosecond and microsecond absorption measurements. Dynode switching of the photomultiplier detector provides wide dynamic range without impairment of frequency response, linearity or accuracy. Signal averaging techniques using computers recover low-level signals masked in noise.